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A tool called AI-Newton can derive scientific laws from raw data, but is some way from developing human-like reasoning.
Most artificial-intelligence (AI) models can reliably identify patterns in data and make predictions, but struggle to use that data to come up with broad scientific concepts, such as the laws of gravity. Now, a team in China has developed a system called AI-Newton that, after being fed experimental data, can autonomously ‘discover’ key physics principles, such as Newton’s second law describing the effect of force and mass on acceleration.
doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-025-03659-4
References
Fang, Y.-L., Jian, D.-S., Li, X. & Ma, Y.-Q. Preprint at arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2504.01538 (2025).
Vafa, K., Chang, P. G., Rambachan, A. & Mullainathan, S. Preprint at arXiv https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2507.06952 (2025).
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